Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-03-27
THE BABY.
A Series OF Letters from Marion Har.
iRnd to Those Who are the Mothers
OF immortal Beings.
Papa as q Baby-Tsnder-nIr, TettorbS'
Definition-Some Fathers ard Some
Other Fathers. g .
BY MARION HARLAED.


Copyrighted, 1887, by the Author
"YOu know, 'Dolphus, my DEAR" said
Mrs. Tetterby, 81 might have given my
self away in several directions. At one
time, four were after me at once; two of
them were sons of Mars
owe are all sons of Mas, my dear"
said Mr.. Tetterby-'joint with pa's."
The uunythological husbands amend
ment to his spouse's statement was per-
tinent, according to his comprehension of
her boast. Because her baby is herself,
bone of her bone, flesh of her flesh, heart
of her heart, mamma OverlOoks the fact
that the treasure is held in co-partner-
ship. Some fathers good naturedly let the
case 90 by default; others maintain q
sort of prOpriety right by stated visits to
the nursery early in the tenants life, and
| by giving g casting vote afterWRFd VIXEN
an important issue srises. The matecan'
/ handle the craft in fair westher. but &hen
/ the barometer falls fast, the& Csptsfn apS
pears on the bridge. More 2frequel tIy
the duty of discipline is relegated to ne
mother, and we may remark, very sepsl-
! bly,. A mans hand is heavy, and bs5sel-
dom has the patience with infantlle snisde-
mesnors that his wife, used TO such,
learns to exercise in the mans cement of
her brood.
| By the time a child is seven years old,
| he should have outgrown the need of
corporal punishment-if it ever existed.
| Up to that age, his mother is more cap
able of Judging and correcting him
than the sterner parent, who brings to
| bear on the case the sem-martial law by
which cOUntirg-roOm, office and ware
house are governed. Moreover, men
seldom have their tempers under
perfect control, and as they con-
TESS, find it difficult to punish
! in cold blood. They do not chastise Con
amOre, but Withivigor dispr0portiOnate TO
the ofense and subject. "Whatsoever
thy hand finds to do, do it with thy
might" is an excellent rule in general
practice. When the abstract case is &
naughty baby, the eXecutioner a muscular
father, humanity pleads for an exception.
The mother, shuddering as if every stripe
fell on her naked heart, tempers Justice
with mercy-as she should! Better spoil
O child Ii little than to write undue sever
ity OF treatment upon his memory in let
tiers of blood that can never be erased.
The business of dressing, feeding and
otherwise caring for baby's personal
needs, devolves of course upon the
mother. There are men of wOmanly
sympathies and def fingers who not only
"Iend a hand" in domestic emergencies,
but acquire kill and deXterity in theldiS I
charge of the duty. The majOrityS4avet
the performance of it where it belongsei
CHASING baby-tending with the essentially
feminine occupations in which the OtRAf !
sex may not dabble without mourning the |
imputation of cold Bettyism" and |
" Molly -cOdling" When essayed by |
masculine ineXperienCe, the results are |
occasionally disastrous, usually ludicrous. |
The young wife of a country clergyman |
left her sleeping child in her husbands |
care while she went to neighbOring vii !
Iage on an erTand. In her absence |
party of old friends called and asked to !
see the baby. The proud papa ran up |
stairs, dug the sleeping Cherub OUT of the !
blankets and baSsinet, and, deciding that |
the slip it wore was hardly presentable, !
sought IN tie bureau drawers for another, |
selecting as tittest the christening robe |
laid away in lavender by the mother. |
This the amateur firing man dragged on |
over the sOiled frOck, hind side before,
fastened 1t front with large safety pins,
tied on q lace cap upside down, bound
broad ribbon sash about the waist of the !
infant, who was too much astOniShed to .
whimper, and bore it il triumph, half f.
effaced and wholly distigured, TO the eX
pectant visitors. Such monument to |
zeal without knowledge would be con-
vulsively funny, but for the inseparable
pathetic touch.
Yet more absurd was the spectacle pre-
sented by twO-year-Old girl whom her |
father dressed unaided, when her mother |
was ILL., He brought her to the breakfast |
table, her frOCk wrong side out, and the !
upper part of her body lndescribably muf |
fed in pair OF drawers he had mistaken |
for an apron. Her arms were lost in the |
legs, one band was made fast about her |
neck, the other secured as tOO-briet belt !
at the waist. cit did not look quite right |
to me-" the poor fellow responded to the |
roar of laughter which greeted him, "but |
how was to know2" How, indeed, in |
the steady grind of the mill that may turn |
out fortune and must give out daily bread |
for the "wife and the bairns?"
If the elective principle holds good any !
where it should in the appointment of |
work, all of which cannot be done by one |
person. Only do not let the man of many |
cares and affairs make the Sanford and |
Merton TOmmy's mistake in fancying !
that the short end of the pole on which |
the burden hangs is the lighter for the |
bearer. His wife may appreciate the |
chsfe and weight of his load. In his most
considerate mood he cannot Over-ate the |
never-endingness incident upon the |
mothers office, the persistency of her
responsibilities. II
At the risk of Wesrying you with |
"sketches from life by our own artist"
et me illustrate this point. When g |
school girl l attended the marriage of the /
ptettiest womsn l knew TO the man of
her choice. She had been e petted belle /
from childhood, ard he had WOE her from
host Of competitors. Three Years after
the wedding day, party OF u young /
people strOllin% nome one summer night .
after q moonlight sail passed g fashionable /
cafe. Four or five men were seated I
within, smoking and chatting, among
them the husband of the whilom belle
handsome, gay and comfortable, with
cigar in mouth and glsss Of
golden sherry cObbIeT glI5tering with
ice, beside MIN. Ten minutes walk took
US b. his tasteful cottage home. The up
per windows were open; Childish Waliings
broke the midnight hush of the street.
Between the curtains dragged back 10 adj
nit the air, we could see the wife and
mother, sickly baby Of eighteen months
IN ono oru1 vUDIl no r-g f rbrp-a TT1n0fna